Work Text:
“You should ask him.” Sirius mutters, elbowing James.
James furrows his brows and turns his attention towards his best friend, “What?”
Sirius jerks his chin in the direction James was staring, eyes settled on a particular Slytherin, “I know you want to go to the ball with Reggie, you should ask him.”
James sighs, “I don’t know… He told me that he wasn’t going and I don’t want to be annoying or anything.”
“Have you actually asked him to go with you and not just if he wants to go?” James looks down at his lap, an admission if Sirius ever saw one, which makes him roll his eyes, “Just ask him. You really want to go with him.”
“Yeah, but…” James sighs, picking at his food, “I know that he doesn’t really want to come out to the school and this would be the epitome of coming out to the school and he’s worried about his parents and…”
“But you can’t make those decisions for him based on what you know.” Remus hums, his fork making a shink noise as he pulls it out from between his teeth, “Maybe he said he wasn’t going because you haven’t asked him yet.”
“Exactly!” Sirius says, throwing his arms up and grinning at his boyfriend. The three of them are so caught up in their conversation that they don’t notice Lily slipping into the seat a couple people down from them, tilting her head to listen to the loud words falling from Sirius’ mouth, “You should really go for it, and I mean what’s a ‘no’ going to mean? I mean, with how in love you are, you’ll recover quickly! Plus, if you get a ‘yes’, then you’ll have a fucking banger time at the ball.”
James hums, “I guess you’re right…”
“Of course I am, I know you better than you know yourself.”
“Now that’s a bit far.” James teases, a small smile on his face, “Alright, I guess I’ll ask eventually.”
“Just make sure you give enough time to get everything in order before the ball. Make sure there’s a grace period.” Remus hums, taking another bite of his food after.
“Yeah, I’ll… I’ll figure it out.” James nods, seemingly making up his mind, his jaw set in a newfound determination.
“Besides,” Peter finally adds, “If you get rejected, you can always just hang out with me and my lonesome.”
“Of course, Pete.” James smiles, flinging a bit of pancake at his childhood friend.” Peter laughs, grabs the food off his face and eats it, making the other three laugh.
Meanwhile, Lily groans and has to exhibit serious control so she doesn’t bash her head against the table repeatedly. She had, in truth, expected that James would want to ask her to the Yule Ball and he figured that Sirius would encourage him but never would she expect that Remus of all people would encourage James. She honestly almost feels betrayed; she has complained to him about how much she’s sick of James harassing her, and Remus is usually the person that stops James and Sirius from their next public display so James can ask her out.
Realizing that this means she’s going to have to walk on eggshells until about a week before the Yule Ball, Lily groans once again.
~~~~~
“James is going to ask me out.” Lily says a couple nights later, laying on her bed and twirling her wand around. She’s been thinking about the conversation she overheard all week and finally, now that she’s with the two people she trusts most in the world--especially after learning that Remus was working against her--she can let out her thoughts.
Mary snorts, “Is he really?” She’s taking off her makeup in the bathroom and Lily can hear the bemusement in her tone, “I thought that he was rearing back on the whole asking you out thing.”
“So did I.” The red head sighs, “He’s been so calm about things recently and like… treating me like a human being but I heard him, Sirius, and Remus talking about asking me out.”
“I mean, that’s not that bad, though. Is it?” Mary asks, finally coming out of the room and going to settle on her bed. She’s already in her nice silk night clothes and Lily wants nothing more than to crawl into the bed next to her and wrap her body around Mary… in a completely platonic way…
“What do you mean?” Pushing herself up on her elbows, Lily tilts her head while she gazes at Mary’s relaxing form. Marlene is sitting on her bed, awake and comfortable but not saying anything--which is peculiar, since she always has something to say.
“I mean, since he’s calmed down and is treating you better-” Mary cuts herself off and furrows her brows, like she’s trying to figure out how to word what she wants to say, “You said it yourself that your learning just how charming and nice he is now that he’s better. I can tell you’ve started to warm up to him, isn’t it a good thing that he wants to ask you out?”
Lily hums, “I guess so. I mean, he actually seemed hesitant on asking me out, Sirius and Remus were telling him to instead of encouraging it…”
“See, that’s what I’m saying!” Mary cheers, “So what if he does ask you to the ball. Imagine that he walks up to you, completely calmly, maybe in the library or somewhere private and just… asks you to be his date. Would you say yes?”
“No, probably not.” The words come out as a sigh, “I mean, I wouldn’t be as aggressive about it if he did ask me like a normal human being but… I just- don’t want to date him.”
“No?” Mary asks, and Marlene snorts at something--it’s her tone, slightly hopeful, but Lily doesn’t notice.
“No.” Lily shakes her head. Her elbows have started to feel weird so she lets herself fall back on her back, “I mean, yeah I’m starting to like him more now that I’m seeing more of his personality, but it’s more as a friend. And, with how he treated me before, I think it’d just be uncomfortable in a relationship with him, no matter how much he’s improved.”
“That makes sense.” Mary hums, “So, what do you want to do about it?”
“I don’t know.” The girl closes her eyes and throws an arm over her face, “Marlene, what do you think? You’ve been silent.”
“I don’t know what you want me to say.” Marlene shrugs, not that the girl in crisis can see.
“Yeah, but you know James the best. You’re the most likely for him to tell how he’d want to ask me out.”
“You want my opinion, fine.” Marlene hums, “I doubt he’s going to ask you out. But, if he does, he’s going to do it more tactfully. He’s spent a lot of time talking to Dorcas and I about things like that and…”
“Wait, he’s coming to you and Dorcas for relationship advice?”
“Mhm.” And since Marlene’s been cut off, she takes it as an opportunity to stop talking. She hadn’t wanted to get involved in this conversation anyway, knowing that anything she said about James would be scrutinized and she doesn’t want that.
In truth, James has been talking to her and Dorcas for relationship advice, but not for a potential relationship with Lily. No, he’s worried that he’s going to mess something up with Regulus, or make him uncomfortable and he’s asking for help--specifically from Dorcas, who has known his boyfriend for years.
Which is exactly why Marlene doesn’t want to talk about James’ plan to ask someone out: she knows that James isn’t going to ask Lily to the Yule Ball, since he only has eyes for the younger Black brother, but she can’t say that.
She honestly shouldn’t know about the relationship herself. But, one day she was looking for Dorcas and asked Barty and Evan, who were in the Slytherin common room, and Barty guessed that she was in their dorm. However, it wasn’t Dorcas in the dorm with Regulus--no, she was in Pandora’s in Ravenclaw, how Barty managed to screw that up, she still doesn’t know--but James. Luckily for her, they weren’t having sex, but were cuddling in Regulus’ bed, James laying against Regulus’ chest while the younger read silently. James was humming and saying something that Regulus was vaguely responding to but Marlene knows that James has a tendency to talk at people without the intention of them listening.
And because Marlene knew, she told Dorcas the next time she saw her. Dorcas, who was with Pandora, already knew and just smiled and kissed her girlfriend. She later learned that all of Regulus’ friends knew and, when she confronted James about it, learned that Sirius and Remus knew as well.
She had snorted at that, having gone from critical and almost worried for who was basically her brother--she’s just as protective of James and Sirius is of Regulus, and she didn’t imagine that Sirius would be happy--but James explained that he accidentally let his crush on Regulus slip to Sirius and the older Black brother was thrilled to learn about James’ little ‘schoolyard crush’--what James called it at the time of explaining it to his best friend, but it turned out to be just a bit more than that. Of course, he had scolded James and given him a shovel talk, but once his ‘big brotherly duties’ were over, he was immediately jumping into helping James get the courage to ask him out.
Then, just as it is with everything, if Sirius knew about it, then Remus did too. Sirius just can’t keep his mouth shut when it comes to his boyfriend and the second that he learns about something exciting, he’s immediately running to Remus and telling him the new information.
And it’s possible that Peter knows about them. He clearly knows that James is in a relationship, has even poked fun and joked about James’ boyfriend but he hasn’t actually stated that he knows who James’ boyfriend is so… He’s never been the type of person to put his nose into people’s personal relationships unless they’re hurting someone so it wasn’t all that shocking to Marlene.
But Lily and Mary? They have no clue that James is dating Regulus, let alone that he’s not even into Lily anymore. Hell, they barely are able to recognize their own feelings towards each other, let alone James’ feelings towards someone that’s not Lily. They especially wouldn't be able to know that James is pansexual.
But how does Marlene explain that without outing James or Regulus?
She can’t. So she hums, interrupting the conversation the other two girls have entered about plan of attack and possible theories when it comes to the James situation, “Here’s an idea,” the blonde waits until she has their attention before she continues, “What if you two go together. It doesn’t have to be an actual date unless you want it to be, but if you tell James that you’re going with Mary if he asks you to the Yule Ball, then there’s no way he’ll keep pushing it. He’d get the idea that you’re really not interested if he thinks you’re into women and leave you alone.”
Lily hums, completely oblivious to the blush that lights up Mary’s cheeks, “That might work. I mean, I don’t want to lie to him about my sexuality but… as long as you’re alright with it Mary.”
Mary hums, refusing to look at the red headed girl, “Mhm, I’m alright with it.” Her voice is high pitched but Lily is so lost in thought that she doesn’t notice anything wrong, “It doesn’t-” she clears her throat, shooting a glare at Marlene, which the blonde meets with an innocent smile, “It doesn’t have to be a date if you don’t- if you don’t want people to assume you like women.”
“No!” Lily shouts, scaring the girls, “Sorry. No, it’s not that I’m not into women, I just also like men and I don’t want to lie about that.”
“Oh,” Mary says, voice meek, “I didn’t know…”
“Yeah…” Lily says, rubbing the back of her neck, “Sorry I didn’t tell either of you guys.”
“It’s alright,” Marlene shrugs, beginning to stand up, “You’re never obligated to come out to anyone, especially not James. If you don’t want to do it because you don’t want to come out to him, that’s alright too.” Mary nods, staring at Lily with enough love that it makes Marlene smile. If only those two could get their shit together.
“No, I don’t mind doing that.” Lily smiles at Mary, and her smile is so stunning--Marlene can completely understand why James used to like her and why Mary is in love with her currently. Hell, if Marlene wasn’t head over heels for Dorcas, it’s possible she’d have a crush on Lily as well. Then Lily draws her attention from Mary to Marlene, who is heading towards the door to the dorm, “Where are you going?”
“I just remembered that Dorcas told me that her roommates were out for the night so I’m going to spend the night with her.” Mary wolf whistles and Marlene winks at her before waving the two girls goodbye and slipping out of the dorm. She heads down to the common room where James is sitting.
He looks up when he hears her and smiles at her, “Hey Marls, where are you going?”
“On my way to transform into a snake.” Marlene smiles back, “Want to come with me?”
“Didn’t know you were an animagus.” James teases, standing up and walking towards her, “I’ll come, but you might be sorely disappointed at what I turn into.”
“It’s possible.” Marlene shrugs, stepping out of the portrait. As soon as it swings closed behind them, she leans into him conspiratorially-like, “You’ll never guess what I just did.”
James’ eyes widen, and he’s immediately leaning into her as well, “What?” If there’s anything that Marlene knows about her childhood friends, it’s that they’re gluttons for drama. One of her favourite things is sitting with her boys for a nice gossip sesh.
“You’ll have to wait until we get to Slytherin. This is something Dorcas and Reg will want to hear.”
“Ooh, must be juicy.”
Marlene nods before she hesitates, “Wait, first, have you asked Reg to the Yule Ball yet? And do Barty and Evan know that you’ve asked, or are going to.”
“I didn’t know you knew I was going to do that.” James furrows his brows before nodding, “Yeah, I have. He’s thinking about it right now, weighing the pros and cons and doing the heavy consideration that only Regulus Black can do. I think Evan and Barty know.” If the words came from anyone else, Marlene would question if he’s being critical or judgemental of his habits. But since James is the one talking, the blonde knows that it’s just another habit that he adores abouts Regulus. He’s so unbelievably infatuated with Regulus and everything about his being that it’s no question.
“Good enough for me, it has to do with you asking so I wanted to make sure you have before I spilled the beans.”
“I’m so confused.” James confesses, but he continues to trail her to the dungeons.
“Then you’ll just have to wait.” Marlene smiles. Before she knows it, they’re at the entrance to the Slytheing common room and slipping in. Luckily for them, there’s almost no one in there this late at night and the few that are in there don’t acknowledge them. Marlene looks at her childhood friend, “I’ll go get ‘Cas and meet you in Reg’s dorm? I also have a feeling that Barty and Evan will want to know.”
James laughs, “They’re thrilled to stick their nose in anyone’s business.”
“Exactly. Be back in a couple minutes.” Then she slips away and heads towards Dorcas’ dorm.
Luckily, her girlfriend is awake when she gets there and comes along easily. They make their way to the boys’ dorm where James has settled himself half-laying in Regulus’ bed, the ravenette leaning against his chest. Evan and Barty are cuddled on Evan’s bed and the four of them are chatting away. Their collective attention turns to the two girls when they enter the room and their excitement is palpable.
Marlene immediately settles herself on Barty’s bed--hoping sincerely that it’s at least somewhat clean. Dorcas settles next to her and Marlene claps her hands, “Alright, you wanna hear what I just did?”
“You’re killing us, Marlene.” Barty whines, throwing himself over Evan’s lap, “Just tell us.”
“Okay, so. You guys know how James was planning to ask Reg about the Ball, right?” She gets collective nods, though Regulus furrows his brows, “Well, he was apparently talking to Sirius and Remus about it a couple days ago at breakfast or something and Lily overheard and assumed that they were telling him to ask her out.”
“No shit?” Evan asks, eyes wide.
Marlene gives a smug nod, “Shit.”
“I didn’t even notice her at the table.” James ponders, “I mean, I’ve stopped flirting with her and trying to ask her out, why would she assume that I was planning to ask her out?”
“I mean, you did obsess over her for years.” Dorcas hums, shrugging with one shoulder.
“Yeah, but we were literally talking about me asking him out. Masculine terms and Reggie’s name came up in the conversation.”
“Who knows,” Marlene says, interrupting their conversation, “Either way, she was talking to me and Mary about it, asking for advice and dreading the day that James asked her out but, I had a genius idea. I originally wasn’t going to talk about it but they pulled me into the conversation so…” she leans forward, her voice lowering just a bit, “I managed to convince to go to the dance together.”
James’ eyes widen and a grin splits over his face, “Like as a date?”
“That’s the thing, I’m not sure. They both seem pretty flustered about it when I suggest that it could be a date, Mary especially. I think she got a bit of hope during our conversation, especially when she learned that Lily would never date you. I left to give them some privacy but I think I’ll know about it by the time the ball starts.”
“Marlene, you’re a fucking genius.” Barty cheers, “I could fucking kiss you.” Almost immediately, Marlene, Dorcas, and Evan are all asking that he doesn’t in various different ways with various tones. It makes James laugh and Regulus smile from where he’s leaning against his boyfriend.
“Please, keep us updated.” Evan says, “I’m not friends with either of them, but even Barty and I can see their pining from here.”
“It’s part of the reason that I slowed down on the attempts to date her.” James admits, running his hands through Regulus’ hair as if in apology for talking about his obsession with Lily, “I actually thought they were already dating so I pulled back… I mean it clearly worked out for me.” He smiles at his boyfriend before looking back at Marlene, “But then I learned that they weren’t dating…”
“It’s so funny that little straight boy James with his massive crush on Lily was more aware of her crush on her best friend than she was.” Barty teases. One of Barty’s favourite activities, now that James and Regulus are in an easy going relationship, is making fun of James’ previous crush. James just rolls his eyes.
Marlene ignores them and turns to Dorcas, “Do you mind if I crash in your dorm tonight? I want to leave the girls alone for the night, give them time to get over being blushing messes and maybe decide on if they want to do this as a date.”
Dorcas nods, not tearing her gaze from Marlene for several seconds before she tears her eyes away and looks at James, “Now I almost feel like you have to ask Lily out so we can see what she says when you do.”
“No he doesn’t.” Regulus says, voice low. It’s not threatening and not quite possessive, but just jealous enough that it makes the other five laugh.
James presses a kiss to Regulus’ head, “What if I don’t ask her to the Yule Ball, but just ask her if she has plans or if she’s going or something.”
Regulus grumbles, “Fine. But only because I’m invested.” James smiles and squeezes Regulus’ shoulders.
After that, Dorcas and Marlene leave the dorm and go to settle in Dorcas’ for the night, leaving the boys alone to do whatever they do in their dorm at night.
~~~~~
It’s about a week before the Yule Ball and the Gryffindors are sitting in the common room with Dorcas and Regulus--because he’s Sirius' brother, obviously. They’re all sitting around and chatting away easily, talking about nothing in particular.
Until James clears his throat and throws a pointed look towards Mary and Lily--technically Marlene and Dorcas as well, but he knows what they’re doing for the ball--and tilts his head, “So, do you two have any plans for the Yule Ball.” He watches as Lily and Mary exchange looks that seem like a mixture between conflict and excitement.
Lily looks back at James, throws her hair over her shoulder, and smiles at him, “Yeah, Mary and I are going together.” She looks as though she’s anticipating James’ reaction, weighing his facial expressions.
So James tries--and fails, when he hears Regulus attempt to quietly snort into Dorcas’ shoulder--to keep his expressions blank. Then he smiles and nods, “Good for you two! Are you going as a date or?”
Lily opens her mouth as if to say no, but Mary cuts her off, “We are, actually!”
“Sweet.” James cheers, smiling genuinely at the two of them. His eyes flick to Marlene’s in question as to whether Mary is telling the truth or not. Marlene shrugs and mouths back ‘they haven’t decided yet’. Next to her, Dorcas mouths ‘either way, there’s romantic tension’ which makes James have to hold back a laugh.
Lily, despite having just implied to James that she’s only interested in women, seems confused at his lack of reaction, “Can I be honest?”
“Sure.”
“I thought you would’ve been more upset.”
James shrugs, “I mean, you’ve already got a date and if it’s with a woman, I can respect that.” He sends a glance towards his boyfriend before looking back at Lily, the look just short enough that he hopes no one noticed it, “Besides, I wasn’t planning on asking you out, just wanted to know your plans. I also wanted to ask if you wanted to go to the ball with us or with Dorcas and Marls?”
“What do you mean?”
“I mean, they’re getting ready with Pandora in Dorcas’ room so I didn’t know if you wanted to get ready with them down there or up here and go with Remus, Sirius, Peter and I.”
“And if you go with us,” Marlene adds, “We’re heading to the actual ball with Barty, Evan, and Reg when we’re done getting ready.”
Mary hums, “I think we’ll get ready up here. As much as I love Dorcas and Pandora and like Reg, I don’t think I can put up with Evan and Barty for that long.” Lily nods but doesn’t say anything, just looks at James, as if trying to read his body language and expression. She seems confused.
“Also, did you say that Reg is going?” Remus asks, sending James a knowing, and smug, look.
Regulus hums, “Yeah, I was… convinced.”
“In a sexual way or?” Dorcas teases, body angled towards Regulus but looking at James across from them. Sirius fake gags, which makes everyone laugh.
Regulus, however, ignores his brother. But he also doesn’t look at James when he shakes his head, “No, I just like them too much.” There’s a small smile on his face and James’ heart flutters. From next to him, he feels Remus nudge his side with his elbow and rolls his eyes.
“Oh, do you have a date?” Mary asks. At her words, Lily finally pulls her confused, analytical gaze from James and to the subject of their current conversation.
“I do,” Regulus says, still not looking at James. They’ve both decided that, outside of the people that already know, they want it to be either a surprise or something that they have to figure out--whichever comes first.
“Oh, I can’t wait to meet her!” Mary cheers, “Unless I already know her.”
“You know them.” The younger nods. Mary continues to question him, which Lily eventually joins in on, and Regulus continues to answer her questions with simple, vague answers. If either of them pick up on the pronoun change, they don’t say anything.
Meanwhile, Sirius leans over his boyfriend’s lap to whisper in James’ ear, “I told you that he’d go if you asked him.”
“It took a bit of time for him to say yes.” James informs him, “I asked him the day after you guys told me to and… he just said he would go with me two nights ago.”
“He still said yes.”
“I guess so.” James shrugs, “I just hope I’m not forcing him to go or anything.”
“I doubt you are,” Remus hums, leaning over just a bit and lowering his voice to join the quiet conversation, “Unless you asked him constantly about it.”
“I didn’t. Just asked him once and again a couple nights ago.”
“Because your anxiety got the best of you?” James hates how knowing his tone is.
But he solemnly nods anyway, “I was making sure that he didn’t forget I asked him because he hadn’t commented about it and he was busy studying for a transfiguration test.”
“That’s alright then,” Remus smiles, “I doubt he feels pressured.”
Sirius nods, much akin to a large dog being excited, “Yeah, and don’t make him stay if he wants to leave early.”
“I’d never do that.”
“I know,” The ravenette softly smiles, “There’s a reason I was excited about you two getting together. I know you.” James rolls his eyes but he smiles back, comforted from his friend’s words. James glances over to his boyfriend, who is still being questioned by Mary and Lily, who looks back at him, concern in his eyes.
‘Alright?’ he mouths. James smiles and nods.
~~~~~
“You ready?” Remus asks, pulling a long dark brown coat over his outfit--a light brown turtleneck tucked into a pair of plaid pants and his matching necklace with Sirius from when they were twelve.
James sighs and pulls his hands away from where they were messing with his hair. He grabs a pair of thin black suspenders and holds them out to Remus, “If you can help me put these on.” Remus rolls his eyes but grabs the suspenders from James, throwing the two straps over his shoulders and clasping the on in the back while James tucks the bottom of his shirt--a flowy, red silk button up on top of a mesh shirt--into his black slacks and unbuttons it most of the way down. After he's satisfied with how his shirt looks, he grabs the suspenders against his shoulders and clasps them onto his pants, leaving them pretty loose.
“Prongs,” Sirius says, grabbing the pinstripe blazer--which matches his pants--that Mary tailored for him from his bed and throwing it over his shoulders, “You are the only person I know that could make suspenders hot.” He runs his hands over his dark blue crop top, showing off his matching nails.
“Why thank you,” James says, walking towards his bed to put on his shoes, “You’re looking hot as always.”
Sirius winks at James before picking up an eyeliner pencil, “I’ll look hotter when I get my makeup on, stop distracting me.” James rolls his eyes, making eye contact with Pete just before. Pete smiles and finishes buttoning up his vest.
Remus walks to his boyfriend, standing behind him and reaching up to gently grasp at his hair, “Do you want me to do your hair for you?”
“If you don’t mind.” Sirius hums, making eye contact with the taller in the mirror. Remus nods and takes the hair tie off the ravenette’s wrist, beginning to tie his hair up in a half-bun.
Soon enough, the four of them are finished getting ready and heading out of their dorms. Lily and Mary are sitting on the couches. Lily is looking ethereal, the definition of beauty and grace wearing a red tight-fitting, off the shoulder red shirt with a crossing shelf layer tucked into a white maxi skirt. She’s wearing a couple gold necklaces and has gold hair twists in her half-braided hair. Mary, sitting next to her, looks just as stunning. She’s wearing a red pantsuit, a matching red to Lily’s shirt, on top of a black corset, wearing similar golden jewelry.
“Hey girls.” Remus says as they walk into the room. Mary stands up and offers her hand out for Lily to take, in which the red-head does. “Ready to go?”
“Yeah,” Mary smiles, dusting herself off. The six start walking towards the Great Hall, weaving through other students heading in the same direction.
At some point during the walk, James hangs back and slides next to Lily and Mary, who are walking side by side, “You girls look lovely tonight.” He smiles and tilts his head a bit, “You said you were going as dates?”
Mary hums, sending James a look, “Yeah! We are!”
“That’s amazing, really.” James pushes at the look that he receives from her, “I’m glad you two were able to find someone that made you happy. By the way, Lily. I also just want to apologize for… all of the past couple of years. I know that one simple apology isn’t going to make things up but…” he shrugs, looking away from them and staring at the back of Sirius’ head.
“It’s alright,” Lily hums. Mary elbows her and she rolls her eyes, “I forgive you temporarily. I hope you know all the shit you put me through with that, and we can talk about it later if you really mean it, but right now we should just have fun.”
“You’re right.”
“Speaking of having fun,” Mary says, her voice a bit tense, “Do you have a date, James?”
James hums, “I do.”
“Since when?”
“They accepted about a week ago, but I’ve been… gaining the courage to ask them for a while.”
“I just-” Lily says, “No offense, but I figured that if you had a date we’d all know about it.” James hums but doesn't respond. It’s not that he’s offended, he understands, it’s more that there’s nothing he can say without giving away who it is that he’s going with, without exposing his relationship, or without possibly offending Lily--telling her that Regulus doesn’t like public acts might be a little… rude.
He doesn’t have to say anything, however, because Sirius pulls James away from them and towards the guys, “That felt awkward.”
“It definitely ended awkwardly.” James sighs.
“Well, I have a feeling that all will be fixed when you see Reg.” Sirius smirks.
“What do you mean?” James asks, “What do you know?”
The ravenette shrugs, “He may or may not have asked me for part of what he wanted to wear.”
“So you know what he’s wearing?” Remus asks.
“Not fully, but I know one of the pieces that he’s wearing,” Sirius grins, “And I also know that James adores what I gave him.”
“Oh god,” James says, “I might die.”
Sirius shrugs, “We’ll see.” They walk into the Great Hall where people are already wandering around, a couple people have goblets of drinks and there are plenty of people sitting around the edges of the room.
Once they’re in, James turns to the rest of the group, including the girls, “Since Pete and I are alone right now, do you want us to grab a table for us.”
Remus nods, “Yeah, Sirius and I will go get drinks.”
“Should we save some room for Reg, Barty, Evan, and the girls?”
“Probably.”
“We’re gonna go dance,” Mary says, taking Lily by the hand, “Make sure to save room for you and Baby Black’s date!” James hums in the affirmative, watching the two of them walk away. Once they're out of hearing range, the boys start cracking up.
“I’ll definitely save some room for myself and Reg.” James smiles, jerking his chin in the direction of a large empty table, “Let’s go Pete.” The two of them walk to the table while Sirius and Remus go to grab goblets of drinks that have probably been spiked--or will be if they haven’t been.
Once James and Pete have sat down, Peter puts his elbow on his palms and flutters his eyelashes, “So James, tell me about this date of yours. What’s he like? Is he a Slytherin? Perhaps your best mate’s little brother.”
James smiles and rolls his eyes, leaning back and throwing his elbow over his seat, “I don’t think you’ve ever met him. His name is Regulus.”
“Can’t say I know him.” Peter smiles. His eyes flit towards the door to the Great Hall, “Do you think Barty and Evan will force them all to be fashionably late?”
“Probably. Barty’s a big fan of dramatic entrances.” James hums, “I wouldn’t be surprised if Reg snuck away and is like making his way to us from the edges of the room.”
“Ninety percent sure that Barty would hex him if he even tried.” James nods. Remus and Sirius make their way to the table with four goblets, handing two to James and Peter.
“Who’s hexing who?” Sirius asks, always a glutton for drama.
“Barty if Reggie tries to sneak away before they can do their no doubt dramatic entrance.” James explains, taking a sip of his drink--cider that has a bit more of a kick than normal. Whatever alcohol was put into the drink is too light for James to be able to tell immediately.
“Oh definitely.” The four of them fall into their usual easy conversation and people watching. Lily and Mary are dancing--a little too close together for the debate on whether they think they’re on a date for not, Snape is sitting at the Slytherin table glaring at them, Pandora’s boyfriend Xenophilius is standing with a couple other Ravenclaws, glancing at the door occasionally.
“Poor guy.” Remus laughs, “He’s in the same boat as you, Prongs.”
James laughs, “So we invite him over to the table?”
“You can.” James shrugs, but Xenophilius glances over and makes eye contact with him. Offering a smile and a roll of his eyes. James smiles back.
“Does he know?” Sirius asks, watching the interactions.
“Possibly.” He turns back to his friends, “I know that Dora knows about us so she might’ve let it slip.”
“The poor girls bad at keeping secrets from people she loves, isn’t she?” Remus smiles fondly--he’s taken quite a liking to the younger girl--”Sounds like someone I know.”
“Shove off.” James grumbles. A couple seconds later, he sees Mary and Lily making their way towards their table, laughing and holding hands. He and Sirius exchange an eyebrow raise just before the girls make it to the table.
“Your date isn’t here yet?” Lily asks, sitting down across from him, next to Remus. Mary settles on her other side.
“Not yet.” James shakes his head, once again glancing at the Great Hall, “I have a feeling the entire group will be late…”
“Oh, one of those people.”
“Not willingly.” James shakes his head, taking another swig of his drink, “Just hoping they don’t back out.”
“H- they won’t.” Sirius shakes his head, “Contrary to what you seem to think, they were really excited to go?”
James furrows his brows, “Really? They’re not…”
“You didn’t see their face earlier today when we were talking about it, I know they were hesitant but they really want to go with you.”
“Speaking of dates…” Peter starts, jerking his chin towards the Great Hall, “It appears our other half have decided to make their dramatic appearance.” And sure enough, Barty and Evan are strutting into the room arm in arm. Barty is wearing all black, a see-through button up that is mostly unbuttoned badly tucked into some black pants. Evan is wearing a beige suit with the blazer opened to show off a lace undershirt. Just behind them are Marlene and Dorcas looking absolutely stunning.
Dorcas is wearing a long-sleeved floor-length dark green dress with pale flowers on it. It’s got a low neckline and the bodice hugs her body beautifully, being broken up from the skirt with a thick black belt. Her arm is thrown around Marlene’s shoulders. The blonde is wearing a black turtleneck tucked into dark gray pants all under a shiny suit jacket that matches the green of Dorcas’ dress.
Finally, behind the two girls is Pandora and Regulus. Pandora has her arm threaded through Regulus’ and is whispering something to him, the two of them looking around the room. They’re far enough from the other four that James can assume Regulus hesitated on coming out. Pandora is wearing a short, light blue ruched dress. It has off the shoulder sleeves and is paired with some gold jewelry and black stockings. And while she’s stunning as always, Regulus far outshines her--in James’ opinion.
He’s wearing a flowy silk shirt underneath the red and black waistcoat he borrowed from Sirius--James knows it well, but he wasn’t expecting to see it on his boyfriend and god it looks so much better on him than Sirius, respectfully--all underneath a cropped, slightly sparkly blazer. His hair is falling around his face like a halo and he’s covered in silver jewelry; rings on almost every finger, earrings dangling from his several ear piercings, and three or four necklaces around his neck. James is also able to vaguely catch the flash of reflected light from the matching bracelet to the one on James’ wrist.
James feels the breath punched out of his chest. He stands up when Peter pushes him from his chair and starts walking towards his boyfriend. He feels like he’s on autopilot for his entire journey and he vaguely notes Xenophilius coming and taking Pandora from Regulus’ arm--Regulus smiled and handed his best friend off to her boyfriend in a way that reminds James of a father handing his daughter to his husband. Then regulus’s eyes are on him and if James couldn’t breathe before, he really can’t breathe now.
They finish crossing the area between them and James smiles at his boyfriend, pulling him into his arms, “Hi baby. You look…” he leans back just a bit to look his boyfriend up and down, the word leaving him in a breath, “Stunning.”
Regulus smiles and grabs James’ arms, “Thanks James, you look good too.” One of his hands slides up from James’ arm to mess with one of the suspenders.
James bites his lip and smiles, “Just good?”
“I guess.” The younger teases, shrugging with one shoulder.
“Can I kiss you?” Regulus hums and nods. James leans down and pulls him into a kiss. The hand holding his suspenders pulls a bit, bringing James’ body closer to his.
They’re embraced for just a minute or two before James pulls away, smiling softly when his boyfriend chases his lips just a bit. “We should probably go to our friends.” Regulus nods and James pulls away fully from his boyfriend, though he does keep Regulus close to his side. They start walking towards their table where all their friends are looking at them--except for Barty, Evan, Marlene, Dorcas, Pandora, and Xenophilius since they’re still walking to the table and beginning to sit down.
When they sit down, Mary and Lily are gaping at them. James offers Regulus the rest of his drink, which the younger takes and downs it, thanking James for it, “Gotta catch up.” James rolls his eyes but grabs the empty cup and puts it down.
Mary clears her throat after a couple seconds, “So you two are each other’s date?”
“Yeah,” James smiles, throwing his arm around Regulus’ shoulder, “We’ve been dating for…” he looks down at his boyfriend.
Regulus rolls his eyes, “Going on six months.”
“And you knew about it?” Lily asks Sirius.
“I wanted them to get together several months before they actually did.” Sirius shrugs. Then he turns to Remus, “Want to go dance?”
Remus nods, “Sure, but not for long.”
“Works with me.” He stands up and pulls his boyfriend into the crowd of dancers.
Barty leans over to Evan, “Do you wanna dance too?”
Evan rolls his eyes but grabs Barty’s hand, “Sure.” They stand up, walk over to where the drinks are, chug whatever drink they choose and disappear as well. Pandora and Xenophilius excuse themselves to talk to their Ravenclaw friends.
James turns to Regulus but the ravenette raises his eyebrows, “You’re not getting me to dance until I’ve got more alcohol in your system.”
“Then let's go get us another drink, yeah?” James smiles, pulling his boyfriend to a stand before looking around the table, “Do you guys want drinks?”
“I’ll take a drink.” Dorcas shrugs. Marlene nods but everyone else turns them down. Regulus and James walk away from the table and towards the drinks table.
Once they’re there, Regulus scans the pre-filled goblets and the pitchers of drinks, “Which one do you think has the most firewhiskey?”
James hums and picks up a goblet, taking a sip then humming again, “This one.”
“Cheers.” Regulus smiles, grabbing the goblet next to the one James grabbed, taking a sip and nodding. They grab two more goblets and start walking back, “Y’know, Barty made us pre-game and it’s not enough.”
“You have to be drunk to bear my presence, huh?” James teases, leaning over his boyfriend.
“Please,” Regulus rolls his eyes, “You’re the only person I can spend more than an hour or two with consecutively without needing alcohol.”
“I mean, Pandora’s another person, isn’t she?”
“I guess.” He shrugs, stopping them both to stand on his toes and press a kiss to James’ cheek, “But you’re special.” He immediately starts walking against and James blushes, looking down at his feet, bashful. As soon as they’re close enough to the table, Regulus meets Lily’s eyes and gives her a self-satisfied smirk--he’s feeling petty since she thought his boyfriend who hasn’t bothered her for close to a year was going to ask her out and he’s possessive. Sue him.